Russia launches missile attack on Ukraine as Zelensky seeks security guarantees

Ukrainian soldiers in training before going to the front line (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Ukraine’s 127th Separate Brigade via AP)

Russia launched one of its biggest aerial attacks this year at Ukraine, firing 574 drones and 40 missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said on Thursday.

The attack mostly targeted western regions of the country, it said. The strikes killed at least one person and injured 15 others, according to officials.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Russia struck a “major American electronics manufacturer” in western Ukraine. He provided no further details.

Western parts of Ukraine are far from the battlefield’s front line in the east and south of the country.

Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the overnight attack which left one person dead (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Much of the military aid provided by Ukraine’s Western allies is believed to be transported and stored there.

It was Russia’s third largest aerial attack this year in terms of the number of drones fired and the eighth-largest in terms of missiles, according to official figures.

The strikes occurred during a renewed US-led effort to reach a peace settlement in the three-year war following Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, saying it was carried out “as if nothing were changing at all”.

Ukrainian soldiers practise their skills on a training ground near Kharkiv (Anatolii Lysianskyi/Ukraine’s 127th Separate Brigade via AP)

Moscow has shown no signs of pursuing meaningful negotiations to end the war and urged the international community to respond with stronger pressure, including tougher sanctions and tariffs, he said.

Russia “wasted several cruise missiles against an American business”, he said, noting it was a regular civilian enterprise producing domestic utilities, such as coffee machines.

“And that too became a target for Russia. Very telling.”

Earlier, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine will hold intensive meetings to understand what kind of security guarantees its allies are willing to provide after receiving signals that the United States would back reinvigorated discussions seeking an end to war.

The details are being hammered out among national security advisers and military officials and Mr Zelensky thinks they will take clearer shape within 10 days.

He then expects to be ready to hold direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the full-scale invasion.

The talks could also be conducted in a trilateral format alongside US President Donald Trump, Mr Zelensky said.

“We want to have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to 10 days. And based on that understanding, we aim to hold a trilateral meeting. That was my logic,” Mr Zelensky said, speaking to reporters on Wednesday after his trip to Washington along with Europe’s top leaders.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said working on security arrangements in Ukraine without Moscow’s involvement would not work, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

“We cannot agree with the fact that it is now proposed to resolve collective security issues without the Russian Federation. This will not work. We have already explained more than once that Russia does not overstate its interests, but we will ensure our legitimate interests firmly and harshly,” Mr Lavrov said at a news conference on Wednesday.